Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $60.00.

SW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Smurfit Westrock from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Saverio Mayer sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total transaction of $1,371,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 149,911 shares in the company, valued at $8,221,119.24. The trade was a 14.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smurfit Westrock

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter valued at approximately $8,519,000. Czech National Bank acquired a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,967,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter valued at $843,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the 3rd quarter worth $561,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Smurfit Westrock in the third quarter worth $249,000. 83.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SW opened at $53.28 on Friday. Smurfit Westrock has a 52-week low of $38.55 and a 52-week high of $56.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.71 billion, a PE ratio of 296.02 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $51.41.

Smurfit Westrock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.3025 per share. This represents a $1.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Smurfit Westrock’s payout ratio is presently 672.22%.

About Smurfit Westrock

Smurfit Westrock Plc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, distributes, and sells containerboard, corrugated containers, and other paper-based packaging products in Ireland and internationally. The company produces containerboard that it converts into corrugated containers or sells to third parties, as well as produces other types of paper, such as consumer packaging board, sack paper, graphic paper, solid board and graphic board, and other paper-based packaging products, such as consumer packaging, solid board packaging, paper sacks, and other packaging products, including bag-in-box.